Updates to Contacts and a (slightly) new look for Gmail — We're constantly reviewing user feedback about Gmail, and for a while now the number one request has been for a better contacts experience. You've asked us to generally make Contacts easier to use, as well as for specific improvements …

Introducing Fast Follow, and other SMS tips — We've always been big fans of trusty SMS messaging. In fact, sending a text was originally the only way users could tweet. This is why Tweets are 140 characters — they need to fit into a text message. — We value SMS because it's simple, instant and universal.

Amazon Is Said to Look at Hardware Beyond Kindle — If you look at the job board for Lab 126, the division of Amazon responsible for the Kindle e-reader, you will see a flurry of listings related to electronics hardware, with titles like Supply Chain Project Program Manager, Hardware Engineer and RF Systems Engineer.

Samsung tablet to be unveiled in Berlin — Speculation has been swirling for months around a tablet PC from Samsung Electronics, and the waiting may finally be over next month. — Korea's top mobile phone maker will unveil the device at the IFA consumer electronics show …

What Happened To Demand Media's Traffic? — Take a look at the Quantcast traffic data for Demand Media, the VC-backed online content creator that on Friday filed for a $125 million IPO: — The massive drop-off occured a few days prior to the IPO filing, and has stayed consistent over the past two days of Quantcast reports.

On Google's Terms — The Dalles' Internet giant calls the shots on information despite government rules — Two data centers present a study in contrasts — PRINEVILLE, Ore.— High on a plateau above this struggling city's downtown, Facebook is busy building its first data center.

HP tells employees webOS tablet coming Q1 2011 — We've been trying to find out when HP would launch a webOS tablet since the company first bought Palm, and we're now hearing from several trusted sources that it'll be calendar Q1 2011. We're told Personal Systems Group VP Todd Bradley mentioned …

Facebook's Foursquare competitor is imminent — The long-rumored geolocation “check-in” feature at Facebook is slated to debut within weeks, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNET. — It's going to take the form of an application program interface (API) for third-party companies …

How Black People Use Twitter — As far as I can tell, the Twitter hashtag #wordsthatleadtotrouble got started at about 11 a.m. Pacific Time on Sunday morning, when a user named Kookeyy posted this short message: “#wordsthatleadtotrouble 'Don't Worry I gotchu.”

H.264 GPU Decoding in Flash Player on Mac OS X is live — We just pushed a few minutes ago a new version of the Flash Player 10.1.82.76 containing a nice feature that was in beta until now called “Gala”. Yes, H.264 GPU decoding in Mac OSX is now officially enabled in the Flash Player.

Smartphone security put on test — How the stolen data was sent to an e-mail inbox set up to receive it — BBC News has shown how straightforward it is to create a malicious application for a smartphone. — Over a few weeks, the BBC put together a crude game for a smartphone that also spied on the owner of the handset.

Zynga Pulls FarmVille Off MSN Games — Zynga has removed its hit game FarmVille from MSN Games, one of the bigger game portals around, we've learned. Zynga first added FarmVille to MSN in February. — This is not the first time that Zynga has pulled a game from a platform.